A Constitutional Right to Housing

Approx 3100 words = approx 12 minutes reading time.

Written by Diarmaid Ó Conaráin

To begin with I would like to highlight what may be potentially the most important point that many will overlook. That being the self confessed, although likely unintended, admission from the chairman of the housing commission, John O Connor. That the only real perceived need for a constitutional change regarding housing is that it might finally motivate the single most negligent generation of politicians to ever plague Irish government. If our government and alleged opposition could pry themselves from the overtly expensive and unproductive industry of the tens of thousands of NGOs in Ireland, as we’ve seen with Direct Provision and Ukrainian refugees, it is well within the governments power to solve housing issues, fast track PPS cards etc. Our current establishment are not bound in any way by the constitution, they are free to solve the housing supply issue through multiple different avenues. They have chosen not to, for years. Just as they’ve chosen to to do nothing abouta hospital bed shortage they’ve known about for years. Essentially this entire spectacle can be translated into an overt admission that our government will not solve the issues affecting the population the most unless we change our constitution, and specifically word it in such a way so as they are forced to do their job. This is a disgrace, and genuinely reason enough for a vote of no confidence in the government. However I will expect no such protest from our meek and facilitatory opposition. At no point before was this necessary, and the conversation alone is a damning reflection on the gravity of our establishments omnipresent failure. In any critical persons mind this would be strike 1, and in my opinion enough in itself to abandon the bill. Its motive and purpose avoids the real issue, the government, and seeks constitutional change to gloss over their ineptitude.

It would appear after a total failure to manage covid effectively, or provide accurate data throughout the pandemic, while crippling the economy, SMEs and raising debt levels, our politicians feel that a vague and dangerous proposition is what might serve as an appropriate political football to appease and distract the population. This is little more than a stunt geared towards appearing to have brought progress and justice, while this country is on its knees in every way imaginable.

The second and more consequential point that will likely go largely unnoticed is the concept of a fair living wage. There should be no individual or particularly a couple in full time employment who cannot afford to live, which housing is a foundational part of. Working full time while still needing assistance from the state in the form of rent allowance should be borderline unacceptable. As many will already know, the cost of housing relative to minimum wage has seen a massive divergence in what was previously a relatively healthy upward but parallel progression. House prices had been artificially peaking prior to the financial collapse of 2007-2008, and then begun to return to more affordable levels before a suffocation of supply and an increase in demand sent prices vertical once again. In the 70s and 80s in Ireland one parent working could afford a home. This divergence of earnings relative to the cost of housing was arguably the initial reason for the introduction of minimum wage, a relatively new concept still not functioning entirely as it should. A graph may seem inefficient in translating the reality of the situation effectively. However, two numbers can highlight the gravity of the circumstances we find ourselves in quite well. In the last decade the average price of housing in Ireland has virtually doubled since the lows of 2010-2012. In the same period minimum wage was 8.65 an hour in 2011, and now stands at 10.50. An increase of less than 25% to compensate for a rise of 98% in the same period.

A right to housing, which one would assume will be means tested similar to unemployment benefits or rent allowance, will facilitate the continuation of a wage that sees people working full time yet remaining financially incapable of full independence. Living in modern society is not simply needs based. In order to avoid a slowing of productivity which results in companies downsizing and handing out redundancies, the population must have disposable income to spend. Without a level of consumerism much of the population may find itself unemployed. This is relevant because if we are to allow sections of the population to linger in circumstances where they cannot afford the basics of living, we risk people refining their spending to solely their needs. And if we are quite honest about it many people are employed in services or industries that we could largely live without, were it not for the economic depression it would create. A constitutional right to housing will not only continue the facilitation of wage suppression, but it will remain insufficient relative to the inflationary cost of living in general, and wont make it any easier to fill a fridge, afford the heating bill or put clothes on your childrens backs. The cost of living historically trends upwards, and although a home is generally an individuals largest expense, maintaining a fair living wage is the blanket solution. This being opposed to dozens of more complicated and isolated measures such as home heating cost rebates, fuel or rent price caps or vague totalitarian constitutional changes. It is imperative the Irish people accept that this will inevitably undermine upward pressure on wages from the lower end as the government, ie you the taxpayer, will pick up the tab for companies continuing to low-ball their staff or directly import cheap labour from less developed countries. Who, incidentally, will have a right to claim housing as soon as they meet the likely thin requirements for residence in Ireland. This will incentivize companies to do exactly that, why wouldn’t it? This would be strike 2 to any individual interested in the avoidance of our good will being exploited.

Yet another terrible idea being brought into play by the government is the concept of shared equity housing. This is yet again an open admittance that they have no intention of pushing house prices down with oversupply. Nor will they raise the minimum wage to bring your spending power back to necessary levels. In their wisdom the establishments solution is to allow you to buy part of a home, while the state or a bank owns a percentage. This will likely become a prominent tool in allegedly making housing affordable. It appears they will try anything, anything at all, except the rhetorical solution of trying to lower imported demand and raising supply. Strike 3.

Independent TD Thomas Pringle says “Ireland must enshrine, in our constitution, the right to housing for everyone in Ireland”. The Bill introduced by People Before Profit states that; “The state, in particular, recognises the common good as including the right to secure, affordable, dignified housing, appropriate to need, for all the residents of Ireland and shall guarantee this right through its laws, policies and the prioritisation of resources.” “The State, accordingly, shall delimit the right to private property where it is necessary to ensure the common good and to vindicate the said right to housing for all residents of Ireland.” This clearly demonstrates twice in a row that this Bill is not for the benefit of Irish people or citizens exclusively, but anyone simply residing here legally. Or illegally, as who knows when our minister for justice might decide to excuse the crimes of tens of thousands of people again, inadvertently granting them the right to housing. The words citizen and resident do not carry the same weight legally, or from a Social Contract point of view. A citizen is a full status participant in that nations Social Contract. A resident is not, and although subject to our laws and enjoying the benefit of negative rights, they are not fully entitled to all positive rights afforded the citizens that make up the state. This is evident in countries like Australia where permission to enter and reside in the country is coupled with proof that you will support yourself and not become a burden on the state. This is usually through proof of a certain amount of capital in your account, or proof of employment, or both. This serves the basic function of ensuring a nations welfare benefits and rights to rent allowance schemes etc are not taken advantage of by people coming from less developed nation’s seeking to exploit from one nation what their very own fails to provide initially.

Given the Bills specificity in twice being certain to use the wording of residents, and the EU having free movement and the right to residency in nations involved, this Bill effectively gives most Europeans the right to move to Ireland and submit a claim for housing. More frighteningly still, given the increasing pace Ireland and other nations are granting citizenship, this will also invite any individuals from other continents recently granted citizenship in Germany or Italy for example, the right to come to Ireland as an EU citizen and continue the artificial demand that is crushing Irelands housing supply. For this reason alone the wording of residents is not only entirely impractical and unsustainable, it once again highlights the short sightedness of our political representatives, and their total inability to consider the ramifications of their decisions. It will also allow non-EEA nationals with a work permit, and hence the right to reside here, the opportunity to claim housing, along with students qualifying for residency. And all of this at the taxpayers expense. I would suggest this is a 4th strike, but even the analogy in question is exhausted by our establishments ineptitude. It might seem prudent to tighten our requirements for citizenship? It matters not, our politicians have already circumvented this measure with their wording, and EEA nations handing out citizenship also circumvents our own systems of control or regulation. It might seem time to tighten immigration a little? We can’t. As long as Ireland is part of the EU we are tied into the freedom of movement agreements. There is currently only one way to stop this madness before it wreaks havoc on our island, ensure it never gets passed in a referendum, or never makes it that far. If the Bill is passed there will be no legal recourse for the Irish people for years and years to come. Until more genuine Irish representatives undo the legalities or until Ireland leaves the EU and regains control of who enters our community at large.

It would be fair to say that the People Before Profit Bill may never pass, still the governments Housing for All scheme leaves very little doubt that their intention is directly aligned with the PBP Bill, and the sentiments of Thomas Pringle. They merely avoid openly discussing private property. They’re well aware our constitution may facilitate this already. Our establishment has almost unanimously agreed that the Irish people should pay to house foreign nationals in our country. We’re being told this by an inept government with regards to housing, who are presiding over the biggest housing and homeless crisis in the history of the state. To further compound the issue, there will be ‘no cap’ on asylum seekers from Ukraine. Given I have not heard a single mention of Ukrainians being sent home when the war is over, I imagine they too will acquire the right to housing in Ireland before long.

I have no interest in false attributions, and thus far, the governments discussion on a right to housing has not included the delimiting of private property, as PBP do. However, I believe this is because they are well aware a right to housing coupled with Article 43 of the constitution may well grant them that power without ever having startled the herd with talk of private property. Article 43 confirms the right to private property, while at the same time in section 2 it leaves the door open for the state to occasionally intervene where the common good is genuinely at risk. One reasonable example of this would be the state reacting to the EU Commissions report that Irelands mainstream media was so monopolised that it was deemed a danger to democracy. Forcing compulsory sales in this instance to rectify the echo chamber of political views the population have imposed on them would certainly be in the interests of the common good. Alternatively, compulsory sales imposed on average Irish people to compensate for the states inability to provide housing is a dangerous idea. Particularly when it is a similar problem arrived at in communism, eventually, you run out of other peoples money or houses. The state will then find itself back where it was, struggling to meet demand, but having trampled constitutional rights in the process of yet another policy failure, after actively hunting down every vacant property in the country.

The concept of a positive right to housing enshrined in the Social Contract can only lead to overwhelming subjectivity and exploitation. As mentioned previously, there is absolutely no need for this under a government performing effectively. This is a last gasp “we promise we’ll do it this time” from political groups that have held power between them since the creation of the modern state. In the midst of this housing crisis they remain undeterred in their plans to import foreign nationals to raise Irelands population to their liking, the motive for which has never once been discussed. The Social Contract is a national contract, between the natives, their representatives and their legal culture. A right to housing would make it a positive right of the Social Contract. Not all positive rights are open to the guests in our nation, and housing, if ever a constitutional right, must be strictly for the full participants. That said there is no iteration of this concept that I could support. The solution to any market not operating as we would like simply cannot be financial government compensation, it is not sustainable. The situation we find ourselves in is a direct result of massive speculation by vulture funds, and a seemingly coordinated attempt to keep housing supply low, leaving demand and price free to perpetually rise. Given many of our TDs are landlords, it will be interesting to see how many are willing to sell their own property at affordable rates so that the citizens of this country might own a home. Time will tell. In any free market the over exploitation of consumers by one entity is the opportunity for another to take its place. This has not happened in Ireland. Nor has the establishment made a real attempt to add a counter weight to the market. This is a form of price signalling essentially, where all are complicit and none are willing to compete with each other. Our car insurance industry is much the same. A constitutional right to housing will not fix that. Its sole accomplishment will be the facilitation of it, through the redistribution of taxpayer money to compensate for what we are allowing to take place. This is not an overly complex problem, which is why their perpetual failure is so outrageous. As mentioned earlier only a fair living wage will offer a blanket solution, coupled with the obvious need to massively expand housing developments, and perhaps regulate the banking and mortgage industry further. Again, none of this is addressed by a vague right to housing.

In 2017 Leo Varadkar said on the subject that this did not mean people would receive keys to a free home, but that they would certainly have to contribute. Given there is no hint of a stipulation that a person must be working, this of course translates into a right to housing with the only real requirement possibly being a small contribution from their unemployment benefits. To which we must ask, is this right perpetually open to us, or if a twenty year old college student seeks to exercise their right to an affordable home might they be told they can continue to live at home for a while longer? I can imagine foreign nationals being pushed ahead in the queue under the excuse that Irish people likely have a family support network, where foreign students etc may not. Or might a student from rural Ireland skip the queue over a student from Dublin for the same reason? Will my right to housing supersede the local needs stipulation for new buildings in rural Ireland? Surely that runs contrary to my right to a home? The right did not stipulate it was a home in my area code. If our government or People Before Profit have even considered these questions I would be surprised in truth. The over concentration of housing resources in cities has fostered the climate we see today. The active elimination of any and all vacant property up and down the country by the state will see this trend continue, as no houses are available to possibly facilitate a redistribution of population back to rural counties. This of course can do nothing but continue to drive demand and consequently pricing of housing in Irelands cities. It will also add to the arguments for high rise buildings and compact domestic expansion, that being more apartment blocks.

A final point to be made is that local authorities are already generally responsible for aiding those who cannot afford accommodation under the Housing Act 1988. Other schemes such as the Housing Assistance Payment and Social Housing should make it clear that the framework to assist the population is already in place, albeit it unlikely to be perfect. If the government would simply allocate necessary funding and build the necessary housing this constitutional change would remain fairly mute in practice, highlighting the lack of necessity for such a measure. In truth it stands as nothing more than an attempt to cover their own inadequacies. To posture as though the lack of a constitutional right is what had bound their hands all this time. When Direct Provision promises of own door accommodation within months of arriving, and a no cap Ukrainian overload of our hotel infrastructure required no constitutional amendments. This will be a poisoned chalice in my view, one we should not be lured into accepting. Our establishment have made it clear over the last few years that Irish people come last in Ireland, and any notion that these housing schemes are truly geared towards the benefit of Irish people should be relinquished.